The present invention relates in general to a method of providing a non-skid surface on an underlyin substrate.
Non-skid surface coating materials are presently utilized for treatment of metallic substrates, such as the steel decks of Naval aircraft carriers. Such surface coatings require frequent replacement because they are only moderately corrosion resistant and unacceptably degradable in so far as their non-skid properties are concerned. Furthermore, removal of such surface coatings for replacement thereof generates huge labor costs and large amounts of hazardous waste materials. It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide the metallic substrate deck of an aircraft carrier or the like with a non-skid surface that is both non-corrosive and long-lasting, so as to avoid replacement. A further object resides in improvement of the heat transfer property associated with the substrate.
In accordance with the present invention, a metallic or ceramic substrate is bonded at an interface to a surface material layer formed from a composite matrix mixture having a metallic content produced and applied to the interface by an appropriately modified laser irradiation induced surface improvement process. Such laser inducement process involves use of noble metal and ceramic abrasive components in the composite matrix mixture from which the surface layer is formed by robotic cladding of the interface on the underlying metal or ceramic substrate that was previously prepatterned. The surface layer acquires a long-lasting non-skid property by alloying the matrix mixture with an additive such as a particulate ceramic, introduced thereto before cladding and intermixing with portions of the substrate at the interface during the laser induced process to enhance bonding to the substrate prepatterned at the interface.